Four Life Terms for Child Molester

The following is a news release from the Grayson County District Attorney:

Late Friday evening, a Grayson County jury in the 15th District Court sentenced Maynard Lee Roberts, Jr., 40, of Denison, to four life terms in prison. The same jury had earlier convicted Roberts of four counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child. Judge Jim Fallon ordered those four sentences run consecutively.

On May 26, 2004, Officer Dale Dowdy of the Denison Police Department responded to a report of a domestic dispute at Roberts’ home at 1910 S. Crockett in Denison. In the course of investigating the incident, Dowdy spoke to two of Roberts young female relatives, ages 10 and 12, and became concerned that the girls had been sexually abused. The girls were taken to Texoma Medical Center for a physical evaluation and ultimately to the Grayson County Children’s Advocacy Center, where they were interviewed and they disclosed a history of abuse by Roberts. In July of 2004, Roberts was indicted on three charges related to the abuse of one child, and a fourth charge related to the other child. At trial, the girls testified to the abuse.

Trial testimony began Tuesday and continued through the week. On Friday morning, the jury took approximately one hour before returning a verdict of guilty in each of the four cases. After Roberts was convicted, another young female relative testified that she was also abused at age 7. After another hour of deliberation, the jury returned life sentences on each of the charges. After prosecutor Jodi Brown requested the court stack the sentences, Judge Jim Fallon granted the request, ensuring that Roberts will never be released from prison

“This was a terrible case of abuse, and I am absolutely proud of the jury and the judge for what they did in these cases,” said District Attorney Joe Brown. “This man has no business being of prison, ever.”

Brown also praised the Denison Police Department and Child Protective Services Workers. “Officer Dowdy just did a tremendous job, and without his action and quick thinking, we may have never known about these little girls. All the parts of the system worked together on this case.”

The stacked sentences given by Judge Fallon are rare. “We don’t see judges stack sentences very often, so it is clear the judge felt the cases were egregious also,” said Brown. “He was very right in that decision."

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